That [held his stirrup leather].

"O Willie, tak' me up by ye,
Sae far it is I gang;
O tak' me on your saddle bow,
Or [your day shall not be lang]."

"Gae back, gae back, ye fause ill wife,
To the grave wherein ye lie,
It never was seen that a dead leman
Kept lover's company!

"Gae back, gae back frae me," he said,
"For this day maun I wed,
And how can I kiss a living lass,
When ye come frae the dead?

"If ye maun haunt a living man,
Your brither haunt," says he,
"For it was never my knife, but his
That [twined thy life and thee!]

* * *

We are to understand, I make no doubt, that Willie had been too
fortunate a lover, and that in his absence--the frailty of his lady
becoming conspicuous--her brother had avenged the family honour
according to that old law of Scotland which the courteous Ariosto
styles "l' aspra legge di Scozia, empia e severa."